Summer is gone!

Where did it go? Well, a lot of time went to developing this blog and another one plus a wiki. Not being handy at technology, I've invested some hundreds (I fear more!) of hours in this endeavor. Nevertheless, it is gratifying to know that it is possible to do it without spending any money or taking classes.

After returning from Canada, there was lots of yardwork to do as our newly hired gardener had failed to come during our absence. Consequently, when S. did come to work on our yard, he came with a helper and proceeded to uproot hundreds of weeds and other plants. We lost perhaps a quarter of our plantscape which was painful to see.

Now a few months later, our yard is looking nice, if sparsely planted. As Mickey says, it's an endless creation. Our yard is enormous, so we have lots of space to plant yet, and lots of waiting for our vegetation to reach mature size.

The Endless Beauty of the Canadian Rockies

One of my favorite hikes was the trail out to Consolation Lake. Mickey is standing just past the trailhead. Behind him is one of the many moraines that we passed or drove by on our travels through the Rockies. Everywhere you can see Mother Nature at work on a grand geological scale.

I tried my hand at black and white photography using Thomas's Kodak Z612. Results with no UV filter and lots of blue sky, blue water, and green forests were more dramatic in black and white than color, and I insert them from time to time for artistic interest.

Consolation Lake was tranquil, and the shots taken here were after some small parties of people had left. The water looked shallow enough to wade across, but I didn't bring my sandals and the lake bottom promised to be very cold and rocky!

The last day in the national parks, we drove out to see sunset on Lake Moraine. A delightfully friendly guy from Quebec shot off a series of photos of Mickey and me, "Fromage!"

Wildlife of Alberta viewed at Calgary Zoo

Prairie dogs, Bear No. 16/Skoki the Grizzly, Elk, Mountain Goat, Rocky Mountain Sheep, Buffalo, Owl - What a wonderful naturalistic display of Canadian wildlife! San Diego Zoo would benefit from implementing the concept of exhibiting animals from our rich and diverse region.

Jasper National Park

Calgary reflections

On the last full day in Alberta after checking out the zoo, we walked through temperature-controlled 'hallways' downtown that allow people to move between buildings without going outdoors. The raised glass passageways are quite impressive extending for many blocks in all directions. Here is a reflection of Mickey and me inside one of the passages above 3rd Avenue perhaps.




We missed the Stampede for which Calgary is best known. This is an example of one of the many posters and reminders of the event we missed by about a week.

Alberta rocks!

Home from two weeks in Western Alberta, where the weather was gorgeous, making fleece pullovers and borrowed rain jacket useless baggage flown across the Rockies and understandable the rolled eyes when we purchased gloves at the West Edmonton Mall mountain shop. We were just following all Canadian Rockies websites that advised being prepared for every kind of weather in the mountains, even in July!

From Edmonton to Jasper to Lake Louise and many stops in between to Calgary, we were awestruck by the grandeur of this region. So much open space! In the mountains, clean, clear, fresh air, and pristine-looking forests and lakes. Snow and glaciers. Abundant wildlife - the first week, we saw mountain sheep, elk, two different species of deer, black bear, mountain goats, and innumerable wildflowers.

On the other hand, everyone (even a friend of the employee of the Best Western Inn who transported us to the airport this morning) was commenting on the job and building boom in Alberta. In downtown Calgary, everywhere you looked you could see a giant hole in the ground or a crane raising up steel beams or streets closed for construction.

I shot 400 pictures with Thomas's digital camera and will post some of them shortly. That way, you can get a glimpse of our travels from San Diego to Alberta.

Stand by for more.

Blogging around

Although I invested an entire day (literally 10 hours!) setting up this blog a week ago (it might have been a record for blogger.com), it is extremely gratifying to see one's creation up on my computer screen. Being inspired by my success last weekend, I also made up a sister blog called 'manyenglishes' which I hope will become a place for students and teachers of English - and any other folk who struggle to master this language - to place comments, vent and/or praise.

This 'mbotefromsandiego', on the other hand, is for the rest. Greetings from San Diego! and reflections on the day here. I heard this morning, for example, that the traffic was already very heavy near Del Mar and expected to be at a peak in that area this weekend. Same old, same old.... Avoid going north on Highway 5 tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be perfect, and now, thanks to Thomas's assistance, I can enjoy viewing our garden from above deck as well as below. Went through many bags of stuff from Mom's house and realized how different it is to handle her possessions four years after her death. I could easily give away her hummingbird feeders as our yard is filled with these tiny creatures already. No need to hang a feeder out there when they've got so many flowers to choose from. For me, hanging out with the hummingbirds makes me feel like Mom is right there watching over things. It's a holy feeling at times....

Mariachi music

Last night at the Del Mar Fair, our ears were filled with Spanish and the canciones y música de los mariachis. Mickey and I had great seats in the fifth row of the 4th grandstand section just to the left of the stage for great viewing. At first, I thought that this section was too expensive for the stereotypic blue-collar first- or second-generation Mexican American because when the show started, the area was only half-filled. Apparently, however, at 7 p.m. when the female mariachis left the stage, the 'purists' who came to hear 'real' mariachi - Mariachi Sol de Mexico and the ranchera singer Angeles Ochoa, appeared to fill up the seats. ¡Que lástima! for those people. I.M.H.O., they missed out on an impressive but admittedly different sounding arrangement of mariachi songs by 'muchachas'.

Nevertheless, these 'real' aficionados brought an energy to the performance that wasn't there before, as men surrounding us made 'ooiii - ooiii' sounds, whistled, and shouted in the midst of performances and later when Angeles sang, the crowd sang along with her during her warm up, like an old-fashioned hootenanny. Mickey didn't enjoy the participatory part of the performance, having to listen to some off-key singers behind us, but if we had known the words to join in, it would've been a different experience, I'm sure.

I think that art has to change if it's going to stay alive. I've never been an aficionado of mariachi, but it was delightful to see so many young talented men and women involved in this creative tradition. It was a true blending of cultures too with violinists from L.A., San Francisco, Tijuana, Ensenada, and Hernandez's relative (guitarist) from Jalisco along with a 65-year old harpist from Russia. Oh la la!

A new week stretches out in front of me, and the sun is inviting me out! What's happening in your world?

The first post

It's Saturday. I've enjoyed one full week of my "summer sabbatical." Ahhh... I have to admit it's been hard trying to get up a little later. Thomas doesn't understand why I'd want to do that. A few days ago I managed to get up at 8 a.m., but only after staying up until 1 a.m. That's the secret - stay up very late. I don't think I can sustain it.

Last weekend for Father's Day we went to see 'La Vie en Rose' about Edith Piaf's life. Mickey would've had to twist my arm to sit through it under most circumstances. Thomas agreed to join - after all - as a way to celebrate dad, the Francophile. While I really knew nothing about the singer, watching this recent production made me wonder why anyone would make a movie about her. She was not a likable figure as depicted in this film. The acting performance was 'formidable' (say it the French way!), but the storyline with it's flash forwards and backwards (until all of us were so confused about the history and her life) made the experience an exercise in movie-viewing. Good for hours of post-viewing discussion, nevertheless.

I continue going through reams of paper in my study. I think I've got that disease of hording, but this time is allowing me to recycle tons (not really!) of papers that I haven't used in years. Useful sheets are being filed/refiled in notebooks. The ideal would be to scan everything and put it in my laptop, but I'm not that devoted to organization.

I've been doing 2 mile laps around the neighborhood, telling myself that it'll be great to be in shape for the Canadian Rockies. Some hills around here go for blocks. Being at the top of a hill has it's benefits (disadvantages). You have to walk up to get here from two of the three directions, so mostly no escape. That path which takes you downhill so speedily eventually forces you uphill. ;-)

The backyard offers hours of viewing and listening (to quail, hummingbirds, bees, assorted other birds not yet identified) pleasure. Sergio, the one person we bonded with from the now defunct Northshore Landscaping company, sporadically maintains our yard as he tries building his maintenance business while adjusting to a new full-time job. Recently the backyard is overgrown with various California natives (Salvias and Ceanothus), a few species of lavender, kangaroo paws, butterfly bush, and assorted plants of Asian gardens (Camellia, Azalea, Nandina, etc.) and standard shopping mall types (Agapanthus, Oleander, etc.).

I still love the beautiful flagstone from the state of Washington, and whenever I walk over it or touch it (yes, I do that!), I see another landscape - sometimes the southwest, sometimes the mountains.... Amazing how mentally soothing and healing that is for me. A yard blooming with color and life is allowing me to create "auom" without having to utter a sound...

Weeding has become a major activity of having a garden. I feel close to Mom and Dad then. I bought some gloves finally, but I still prefer to pull with my hands, where I can grasp and feel the texture of the plants against my skin. Occasionally, however, I get stuck with hairy prickles from weeds that seem to have evolved in response to human plucking behavior. Ouch! Since it's usually my right hand that gets stuck, I have to seek help from Mickey or Thomas with tweezers to remove the painful tiny spikes. Ah, the zen of weeding!

Tomorrow we head to the Del Mar Fair especially to attend the Mariachi Festival. After spending decades here in San Diego, I guess it's about time I attended the 'Fair.' The weather has been spectacular, so I'm looking forward to another day in 'Paradise.' Yippee!

Hope you're finding time to enjoy the feel of summer. Write when the spirit moves.